Who Should I Start? Joe Mixon or Jacory Croskey-Merritt

Thursday, November 20, 12:34 PM

Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon (ankle, foot) is not expected to play this season as he deals with a foot injury from the offseason, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Mixon will likely stay on the Physically Unable to Perform list through the end of the 2025 season, while the Texans move forward with veteran Nick Chubb and rookie Woody Marks in their backfield. Things had been trending this way for a while, as the Texans haven't been giving any real updates on Mixon for pretty much the entire season. Fantasy managers who are still stashing the 29-year-old in redraft leagues should send him to the waiver wire now. Mixon's injury dates all the way back to spring workouts. One would think he'd be ready for the start of the 2026 campaign, but there has been little information about the exact nature of his injury. Marks, a fourth-rounder in April, has slowly started to see more work and should be the backfield leader over Chubb by the end of the year.

Friday, December 5, 7:45 PM

Washington Commanders rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt was a trendy late-round upside pick in fantasy drafts in the fall, with Washington's backfield plans unsettled. He became even more popular off the waiver wire early in the season after Austin Ekeler suffered a season-ending Achilles tear. The 24-year-old seventh-rounder out of Arizona had double-digit rushing attempts in five of six games from Weeks 5-10, accumulating 298 yards and two touchdowns on 76 carries (3.9 yards per attempt). Bill has since fallen out of favor and has lost lead-back duties to Chris Rodriguez Jr. In the Sunday night overtime loss to the Denver Broncos, Croskey-Merritt played a season-low 14% of the snaps and had a season-low four carries for only 20 yards. He was also out-snapped by pass-catching back Jeremy McNichols. JCM is still rostered in just under 50% of Yahoo leagues, but in a three-back committee in Washington, he should be on benches entering Sunday's road matchup against Minnesota.